The zipper is an object we all rely upon on a regular basis. Be it clothing, bags, and a whole host of other fabric items, the zipper acts as a way of joining fabric together temporarily, but in such a way as to offer a reliable and permanent fastening solution.

While the zipper is a commonplace device, someone had to invent it in the first place, and that someone was Gideon Sundback. Today would have been Sundback’s 132nd birthday, and Google has decided to mark the occasion with a Google Doodle you can’t fail to miss on its homepage.

Visit google.com today and you will be presented with a page that is cut in half by a giant zipper. The page functions just like the typical Google search page, but if you click the zipper it unzips the page to show a number of links relating to Sundback.

The invention of the zipper came about as part of experiments to solve the “pulling-apart problem.” Before the zipper existed a hook and eye system was commonly used to hold fabric together. However, that system always had a tendency to pull apart and it was desirable to find a better fixing mechanism–a so-called “hookless fastener.”

In 1913 Sundback created the first version of what would become the zipper. It used two rows of teeth that faced each other and were joined by a slider. A year later he updated the design to use offset interlocking teeth and held them together with a strong fabric cord. It was called the Separable Fasterner and the design was awarded to Sundback as a patent in 1917.

The Separable Fastener is now commonly known as the zipper because in 1923 it was used on boots by B.F. Goodrich who referred to it as such. The zipper then became popular on tobacco pouches and a couple of decades later was used in clothing and became especially useful for clothing during World War II.